Christall Lowe - Food Stories

Christall Lowe - Food Stories Award-winning cookbooks KAI and KAI FEAST. NZ Food Photographer of the year. Food Stylist & Photographer, Chef, Recipe developer, Author. Hello. Kia ora. Welcome! xx

I'm Christall Lowe - Mama of three, wife to one. Obsessive compulsive creative. Happy snapper of life and loves. Serial entrepreneur. Lover of simple and beautiful. By day I'm a Mama, housewife, interior architect, artist, designer, inventor, stylist, maker, foodie and nutrition passionista. By night I'm all of that too, because creativity (and an overactive mind) never sleeps. Jack of all trades,

master of none? Nope. Just one living, breathing, walking creative process. Under the Kowhai Tree is my happy place. And this blog is a curation of my life. I do what I love. I love what I do. I love the real deal. Locally grown. Honest people. Handmade. The smell of real leather. Home cooked. Freshly squeezed. Free range. Authentic. Made by hand. Made with heart. Welcome to my lifestyle blog, where I share about food and parenting, design and home making, life and loves. Let's talk. Let's share. Let's cheer each other on.

As a food stylist/photographer you’re constantly trouble shooting and working things out in the moment - which I absolut...
29/07/2026

As a food stylist/photographer you’re constantly trouble shooting and working things out in the moment - which I absolutely LOVE. I love the thrill of a creative challenge, in fact when everything is straight forward and strictly to brief it can be a bit boring.

The first set up for these desserts just wasn’t giving the vibe. I played around with different backgrounds and none were giving me my “opera” moment. I was shooting the incredible food of Joanna Keppel and I wholeheartedly wanted to do her beautiful kai justice. I then asked her what she had in her wardrobe, and there amongst the dresses and coats I spotted it….a vintage, magenta coloured velvet coat.

Boom. There it was. And here it is 😮‍💨💓
Swipe to see some behind the scenes videos, and to see this beautiful coat in action 💓💓

09/07/2026

Winter is always the busiest time of year for me, but I am looking forward to a massive rest and reset over the Matariki period 🧡🧡
Mānawatia a Matariki ma Puanga ✨✨

02/07/2026

Proof of wow-ness 😮‍💨😮‍💨
I think I said “wow” a few hundred times in one night.
The kai served at the inaugural New Zealand ceremony was INCREDIBLE. More commentary coming soon. In the meantime, all I can say is….WOW 🥹❤️

I flew to Queenstown for work - a photo shoot for a chef - and couldn’t help but be mesmerised by the ever changing land...
06/05/2026

I flew to Queenstown for work - a photo shoot for a chef - and couldn’t help but be mesmerised by the ever changing landscape below. Like a painting! I’ve flown over the Andes in South America a few times, which was also breathtaking, but the landscape here in Aotearoa is something special. These are just iPhone pics, and I must say - the ole phone actually did the view justice 👌🏾👌🏾🤎🤎

16/03/2026

EDIT: It didn’t even work 😂 It worked in the Edits app but not when it was posted - LOL

Well this is pretty neat!! Did you know you can tap on the little vids on the screen and it’ll take you to the original reel? Try it!

And yes, I appear to have been quiet in this suburb of the internet lately - but I’ve been anything but. I’ve had a LOT going on behind the scenes….including cookbook number THREE, exhibition planning, a new brand and product line, and a whole lot more that I can’t talk about 😆😅 (yet)

One last peek through the letter slot and keyhole. One last tap on the piano keys. And one last moment sitting on the wi...
26/02/2026

One last peek through the letter slot and keyhole.
One last tap on the piano keys.
And one last moment sitting on the window seat in the big lounge, in awe of how fifty people could regularly fit in here for a big whānau celebration.
As I spent time capturing little details I also peeled back wallpaper and lifted corners of carpet….which uncovered memories that had been kept in storage for a while. The green wallpaper in the front room that always had the scary dolls on the neatly made beds. The original carpet rug in the main lounge, threadbare in front of the long-disused open fireplace.
80 years of whānau memories under this roof 💚💚

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